Verbose

After two-and-a-half years of running standing-room-only monthly live literature night Verbose, host Sarah-Clare Conlon is making the next outing her last.

Hailed by the media as one of the best spoken word nights in Manchester, Verbose’s headliners are always linked – this time we’re celebrating the annual National Flash-Fiction Day by welcoming leading proponents of the short-short story to the stage at Fallow Café in Fallowfield, Manchester, on Monday 26 June.

Compère Sarah-Clare, herself a champion of the form, will also read. Of stepping down from organising and hosting the event, which she has done since January 2015, she says: “I’ve loved every minute of running the night and have met some amazing people by doing so, but it felt the right time to hang up my Verbose boots.”

The three headliners this month are: Benjamin Judge, one of the founding members of the Flashtag writing collective; Tania Hershman, whose third collection, Some Of Us Glow More Than Others, came out last month, and Neil Campbell, who will be reading from his new collection of stories of fewer than 1,000 words, Fog Lane.

Since its relaunch in January 2015, Verbose has welcomed many luminaries of the literature scene, including poets Richard Barrett, Anne Caldwell, Michael Conley and Rosie Garland, and prose writers Jenn Ashworth, Stephen May, Nicholas Royle and Emma Jane Unsworth. Man Booker Prize-listed authors Ian McGuire and Alison Moore have been guests, and narrative non-fiction has also found its place. February marked the launch of David Gaffney’s new novel All The Places I’ve Ever Lived, with March welcoming Beth Underdown to read from her critically acclaimed book The Witchfinders’ Sister, and May hearing from Sarah Tierney’s debut, Making Space.

Taking place at Fallow Café (2a Landcross Road, M14 6NA), entry is free and doors are at 7.30pm. See verbosemcr.wordpress.com. Verbose also includes an open mic line-up – potential performers should email via verbosemcr@gmail.com for a slot